VI Session 2, Broken Maps
Kimchiwei and Finellen search for any signs of the missing horses, but it seems that they were led away by someone in heavy armor, but the tracks are eventually lost among the brush. Without horses it takes several hours to get back to Wall Village. By this time Yan has regained consciousness and he and his father share few words. Inkha and Finellen grill old man Wei over his relationship to the, now dead, westerners. Kimchiwei and Finellen search for any signs of the missing horses, but it seems that they were led away by someone in heavy armor, but the tracks are eventually lost among the brush. Without horses it takes several hours to get back to Wall Village. By this time Yan has regained consciousness and he and his father share few words. Inkha and Finellen grill old man Wei over his relationship to the, now dead, westerners. Kangweizhin introduces himself and his son, explaining that before Yan made an absolute fool of himeslf, they were assisting Valdemar Wynst and the Empyrean church. He goes on to explain that westerners are still banned from Danasia, unless working directly for the Dan. The Dan is aging, and unlike Findle's rulers, the Dan is fully human and fully mortal. His desire is to live long enough to guide the country to greatness and it is Khangweizhin who was charged with finding the key to immortality. Valdemar, a war veteran who fought in Danasia and the Empyrean church volunteered information about Hero Deities in exchange for knowledge of the location of the 6 Demon Bag, a legendary artifact said to house six deadly immortal warlords from before the founding of the Danasian empire. Khangweizhin points out that Yan wasn't only guilty of kidnapping Valdemar's daughter, but also stealing several items from Valdemar's office, including a map of the catacombs below the Monestary of the Resolute, the mythical resting place of the great Treasure of Yongmunguwan and the Six Demon Bag. Whatever the reason, Khangweizhin warns the party that who get's the bag is less important than preventing someone from releasing the demons within. This all may have been wrapped up neatly, had Yan not stolen the map and sold it to an unknown party. Yan, perks up at this revelation as if revitalized from a daze. He describes the little creature he sold it to, referring to the small orange goblin-like creature as a "Kenku." This creature was supposed to sell it to a tall pale man that goes by the name Korekutā. Inkha's blood runs cold at the sound of that name, "Korekutā" means "the one who collects" is the Vasharan language. Kimchiwei pauses the group and brings up concerns over returning to the Jade Lady, being unable to repay his cousin for the missing horses. The party slink past the Jade Lady and the warehouse, which is now mysteriously empty. Khangweizhin and Hauri develop a plan. They may be able to find the creature that Yan sold the map to. This could prevent anyone from accidentally releasing the sealed demons. Yan is a wanted man within the city walls, therefore will not be able to simply walk through the gate, however, he has a rather large bounty on his head. Yan removes his distinctive outfit, which is still covered in his own blood, and hands it to Hauri, hoping that he can turn it in to prove the bounty. Meanwhile, the group give their equipment to Finellen while she shapeshifts into a large dog to enter Mungu, which doesn't allow civilians to carry weapons or wear armor. They begrudgingly bid Yan farewell, promising to meet up with him after dark. Once within the city, the party find themselves assaulted by throngs of travellers, merchants and soldiers. Everyone from every walk of life travels through Mungu. Stalls lining the streets showcase cooking from across the continent and traders peddle jewelry and arcane baubles from Thessan as well as exotic oils and tinctures from Findle. Hauri pauses for a moment to watch a display of something called rust monster milk before hurrying on to the administration center to claim Yan's bounty. The administers are hesitant to exchange the bounty for just a shirt, but are eventually convinced. They give Hauri the 200 gold pieces as bounty for the boy, but withold 500 as reward for failing to return the bagua sword. The 200 gold went a long way allowing the party purchase several healing potions from the local merchants. Kangweizhin takes leave of the party, telling them that he will meet them and Yan outside of the monastery after dark. The party check into a small boarding house called the Twin Pearls. This is much nicer and much more expensive than Shibowei's Jade Lady. Few patrons are dining and those who are there, are clearly bothered by a small orange creature playing a stringed gayageum. The creature wanders from table to table, picking morsels off of plates and holding out a strange hat for donations. The creature moves to the party's table, and Inkha recognizes the creature from Yan's descriptions. The creature introduces itself as Jin the Dokkaebi. He immediately confesses to dealing with Yan, purchasing the map for 20 gold. He offers to sell it to the party for 50 since his original buyer seems to have disappeared. In traditional Dokkaebi fashion, Jin imposes himself on the party and the innkeeper graciously thanks Kimchiwei for removing this honored guest (pest) from his inn. Jin reveals the map that Yan sold him and to Inkhas astonishment, the map is nearly identical to one dropped by the man who killed her father. As night falls, the party move to meet Yan in the agreed upon place, a public garden in the northern section of the city. As they leave the lit streets and enter the darkened space, they are approached by an armed guard. The guard orders them to hault, waving his mancatcher toward Hauri before bursting into laughter and revealing his identity as Yan. When Finellen asks where he got the disguise he answers "off a guard" and assures her that the guard is naked, but unharmed... probably. This does not put her mind at ease, knowing that Yan has killed in the past. The party walk cautiously toward the Monastery of the Resolute with their "guard" escorting them. The monastery is a large walled compound surrounding a three floored tile roofed building that has seen better days. During the war, the monastery was stripped and much of the Treasure of Yongmunguwan within was used to fuel the war effort. Gaining entry is easy, the few monks who remain to tend the ground care often accpet vagrants and cutious folk into the ground level. With Yan disguised as a guard, they are granted permission to explore the grounds, as long as they refrain from entering the upper floors. The party immediately head down into underground floors, hoping to get their hands on whatever treasure remains including the 6 Demon Bag. These floors once held the Treasure of Yongmunguwan and the wealth of Mungu but now stand stripped and empty, little more than bare stone walls. Jin's map shows that there is an entrance to the catacombs on the third floor, but as the party move trhough the pitch darkness, they find no such entrance. The third floor is similarly stripped, the only thing in the room being scattered dry bones and cloth scraps. Before those with darkvision have a chance to really look around, Kimchiwei lights up a torch, tired of being unable to see. The bones and cloth shriek and flinch in the firelight, scrambling across the floor to form a large humanoid figure. This creature lashes out violently at the party, slamming Hauri across the chest and paralyzing Jin with a wicked stare. The party just barely manage to overcome the creature, taking heavy damage from the undead things great strength. Hauri colapses to the ground from his grevious injuries as Inkha attepts to heal his wounds with her healing touch. The wounds refuse to close and he begins coughing violently. A small cloud of ashy dust ejects itself from his lungs with every cough. Kimchiwei recognizes the signs of mummy rot, a disease that will take Hauri's life without treatment. EXP and Journal Category:Campaign VI Session